Creative and Critical Projects in Classroom Music

Creative and Critical Projects in Classroom Music is both a celebration and extension of John Paynter and Peter Aston’s groundbreaking work on creative classroom music, Sound and Silence, first published in 1970.

Building on the central themes of the original work – the child as artist, the role of musical imagination and creativity, and the process of making music – the authors and contributors provide a contemporary response to the spirit and style of Sound and Silence. They offer reflections on the ideas and convictions underpinning Paynter and Aston’s work in light of scholarship developed during the intervening years. This critical work is accompanied by 16 creative classroom projects designed and enacted by contemporary practitioners, raising questions about the nature and function of music in education and society. In summary, this book aims to:

• Celebrate seminal work on musical creativity in the classroom.
• Promote the integration of practical, critical and analytical writing and thinking around this key theme for music education.
• Contribute to initiating the next 50 years of thought in relation to music creativity in the classroom.

Offering a unique combination of critical scholarship and practical application, and published on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Sound and Silence, themes from Paynter and Aston’s work are here given fresh context that aims to inspire a new generation of innovative classroom practice and to challenge current ways of thinking about the music classroom.

John Finney taught music in secondary schools before teaching at Reading University, Homerton College and the University of Cambridge, where he led the postgraduate secondary course in music education. He has published widely on the interface between public policy and classroom practice in music education.

Chris Philpott is Reader in Music Education at the University of Greenwich, London. He has written and edited books, articles, online texts and resources that are widely used in initial teacher education and academic music education programmes.

Gary Spruce began his career as a secondary school music teacher. He is now subject leader for the pre-service music teacher education course at Birmingham City University. He has published widely on music education, particularly focusing on the relationship between music education and social justice and the professional development of teachers.